Spring assembly for upholstery



July 5, 1938. w w, GLEASON 2,122,979

SPRING ASSEMBLY FOR UPHOLSTERY Filed June 1, 1936 VM o l@ f Inxfen'tr Patented July 5, 1938 UNITED STATES vPATENT OFFICE Naohman Spring-Filled Corporati on, Chicago,

lll.. a corporation of Illinois Application June 1. 1936, Serial No. 82,736 2 Claims. (CL 155-179) The invention relates to improvements in spring assemblies for seat cushions and the like, and has for its object to provide a cheap, light and very resilient device of this character which can 5 be manufactured at low cost.

A suitable embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a plan view of a, spring assembly constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevation of the same.

The structure of the present invention comprises a series of parallel strips, each composed of wire bent to zig-zag form to provide substantially Vilat skeleton surfaces upon which padding material may be supported. n

Each of the said strips is composed, preferably,

of a single strand of wire of suitable type and is bent to present substantially parallel upper and lower portions l and 2, respectively, presenting the said ilat skeleton type supporting surfaces for padding and each of which is bent between its ends to provide a U-shaped or V-shaped formation 3 which projects between the said upper and lower portions I and 2. 'I'he ends of the said strands of zig-zag wire are similarly bent to provide the U-shaped or V-shaped formation 4 opposed to the U` or V-shaped formation 3 and pro- Jecting between the upper and lower portions i and 2 in substantially the same manner. The opposed extremities of the said strip or strand of wire are suitably joined or coupled with each other by means of coupling sleeves 5 as shown in Fig. 3, or in any other suitable manner.

A plurality of strips of the type illustrated in Fig. 2 and hereinabove described, are disposed in parallel relation to each other as shown in Fig. 1 and may be spaced from each other to any suitable or selected extent. Preferably, the portions of the strips or strands which extend substantially transverselyto the lengths of the upper and lower portions I and 2 or to the length of the strips, are disposed in substantial alignment with each other in contiguous strips and, preferably, said strips are coupled with each other by means of wire helicals 6 which embrace said aligned lateral portions of said strips "occurring at intervals in the length thereof. The number of said helicals 6 employed is selective and depends upon the judgment of the manufacturer and the purposes for which the spring assembly is to be employed, it bey ing obvious. of course, that other connecting means of a resilient nature well known in the art may be employed in place of the helicals 6 and, furthermore, that in the event that said strips are disposed in more closely compact relation to each other, so that the loops or similar formations 'l thereof are disposed in close proximity to each other in adjacent strips, connecting 5 means other than helicals, or the equivalents of said helicals, may be employed to couple each strip with the next adjacent strip. f

` While I have illustrated the strips as being composed of a single strand of wire each bent substantially as illustrated in Fig. 2, it will be obvious, of course, that each strip may be composed of a plurality of parts and joined at the points 8 in any suitable manner.

In bending the strips when composed of a single strand of wire, as illustrated in Fig. 2, I prefer to twist the laterals l at the ends of the upper and lower portions l and 2 respectively about their own axes, this twisting being accomplished, preferably, before the strips are hardened to render them resilient or, if hardened strips are (used initially, then by annealing the said laterals 'f8 and bending the same, and thereafter again hardening the same. 'I'he same procedure may beihfollowed with respect to bending of the por- 25 tions 3 and 4 of said strips as will be obvious.

The said upper and lower portions l and 2, or one of them, of said strips of zig-zag wire may be slightly bowed if desired and thus provide slightly convex surfaces opposed to the padding subsequently supplied in the production of finished cushions.

It will be apparent also that the strips disposed in the middle portion of the assembly shown and which are subjected to the greatest degree of load, may be bowed to a greater extent than the side strips so that the completed spring assembly may present substantially and approximately sphero-convex skeleton surfaces.

I claim as my invention:

1. An all-wire spring assembly. for incorporation into a loose cushion, comprising a series of strips of resilient wire of zig-zag form each bent to provide opposed skeleton pad supporting surfaces spaced from each other and presenting opposed bowed portions extending inwardly from the ends of the said pad supporting surfaces and constituting yielding means for maintaining said supporting surfaces in said spaced relation to each other, the respective strips of the series being disposed in substantially parallel and spaced apart relation to each other with the supporting surfaces thereof disposed to present substantially continuous skeleton surfaces extending from one to an opposite edge of the structure and a series 55 of substantially parallel spaced apart helical springs extending transversely of and each en- Based with ail of said strips tor coupling the same with each other and maintaining them yieldingly in spaced relation to each other.

2. An al1-wire spring assembly for incorporation in to a loose cushion, comprising a series-oi single-piece strips of resilient wire oi Sia-zag form each bent toprovide skeleton pad m99011- ing surfaces at top and bottom of the structure.

said strips spaced from each other and presentt ing opposed bowed portions extending inwardly from the ends of the said pad supporting surfaces and constituting yielding means for maintaining said supporting surfaces in said spaced relation lto each other vertically of the structure, the respective strips o! the series being disposed in substantially parallel relation to each other with the pad supporting surfaces thereof disposed to present substantially continuous convex pad supports extending from one edge to an opposed edge of the structure, each oi said strips presenting meeting ends each extending over the width oi the strip and in contact with each other and dis posedbetween the convex portions and inwardly of the vertical planes of the peripheral edges of the structure at the respective ends of said convex portions. and a series of substantially parallel spaced apart helical springs extending transversely of and each engaged with all of said strips for coupling the same witheach other and maintaining them yieldingly in spaced relation to each other, said meeting ends of each of said strips being embraced by and held against separation by one of said helical springs.

WILLIAM W. GLEASGN. 

